Saturday, December 18, 2021

When I still thought I had time to send out more hand-made cards I had a dozen patterns cut and ready to sew. I never got to them but I decided that rather than put them away in pieces I would sew them together.

These pieces are small – each one will finish at 2.25″. I’ve put a couple of them together using the envelope method but I need to come up with better plan. They are just too small to turn and have them finish off nicely. And they are really too small to qualify as “cards”; I think they will be better used as parcel tags.

I have another plan on how to put them together so I’ll test my method on a couple more. By the time I’m done I hope to have at least a few tags ready for next year.

Friday, December 17, 2021

The coffee was ready to be poured when I got up this morning. A week or so ago I started using the programming feature on the coffee pot. It took some trials but I finally sorted out the right time to program the machine so the coffee was ready at 7:30, which is the time I’m usually up. In fact, since I started programming it, I will often be awake but stay in bed until the coffee is ready.

After I went to bed Tuesday night, unbeknownst to me, Pat got the coffee ready. When I got up on Wednesday the grounds were cold so I didn’t think any had been made. I made myself a cup of tea to start the day rather than make coffee. When Pat got up he was surprised that the coffee was cold; we figured out the problem was that he had reset the clock thinking he was setting the programming and the coffee started about fifteen minutes after he went to bed. No problem – he reset the clock and I showed him how the programming works.

The next morning the coffee was ready to start but again the programming didn’t work. This time we realized that he had reset the clock to PM, not AM. Last night we got everything sorted and the coffee was ready when I got up. I have a feeling I may never get another pot of coffee started for me!

I’m finishing up a few things today so the projects can go on my list for 2022. Stacia asked me this morning if I had finished the binding on the two quilts; I said yes, but I wasn’t entirely sure what two quilts she meant. I realized later that it was the two quilts that I needed to get borders done for. I have one of them finished now and the other is half-done. I don’t know if I’ll have time to get it done tonight but it will be a quick job for tomorrow.

It’s going to be a wild night – we have both a wind and a snowfall warning for our area.

Thursday, December 16, 2021

I headed off to my Thursday sewing a little early but only by about 15 minutes. I arrived before Jessie; I knew she wasn’t there yet because her car wasn’t in the lot. When I let myself into the sewing studio all was quiet and dark, but that isn’t unusual because Gail sleeps late and I thought either she wasn’t up yet or she was still getting ready.

I set up my machine and started sewing. I was making 4-patches as the last clue in the Guild mystery. When I was about half done my patches I looked at the time and it was quarter past one which meant Jessie was late or not coming. There was still no sign of Gail. I began to wonder if I had the day wrong or if I had missed a memo.

I decided I’d finish my 4-patches and if no one emerged I would pack up and go home. I was in the process of packing up when Gail wandered into the studio. Apparently there was something odd about her clock in the bedroom – either it hadn’t been set back and she was mentally adjusting the time or it had been set back and she didn’t think it had been. Whatever the reason she thought she was getting up at 12:30 rather than 1:30.

When she checked her phone messages there was one from Jessie; she had her booster shot yesterday and, in her words, it knocked the socks off her. Gail and I spent a pleasant afternoon all the same. I finished hand stitching the binding on the Community Quilt and Gail did what she always does – kept me up to date on what she’s finding on Facebook.

Because it was our last sewing day until the New Year I made some Butter Tart Squares (thanks for the recipe Stacia) to take and have with our coffee. I have no doubt that this will be all the Christmas baking I do.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Now that all my Christmas prep is done I was delighted to get back to my regular schedule – a cross stitch Wednesday. I was behind three clues on my Peppermint Purple project and I got them done before stopping for lunch.

After lunch I made the repairs on that Community Quilt and got the binding attached. I’ve been working on my Guild mystery at my Thursday sessions but I only have a few four patches to make and then the quilt can be put together. I didn’t think those four patches would take all afternoon so now I have the hand stitching to do on the quilt if I have time.

And then it was back to my Peppermint Purple project – this time to work on the border. There are only two clues left but I’ll be away when they are released. The border is more complicated than I should have made it – not enough experience with the technique so I picked the border I liked best without realizing how much work it was going to be.

Next year’s stitch along will be released on December 27th and I’m definitely in for another year.